The present invention relates to the manufacture of books, and more particularly to an apparatus for the production of printing plates in signature format.
According to the conventional method for the manufacture of books, when the content which is available in the form of photographic transparencies, groups of negatives, each representing one page, are stripped together into large composite negatives known as flats. Most frequently, a single flat includes eight pages arranged in two parallel rows of four, one row being inverted with respect to the other. The flats are used to make plates each of which is capable of printing a single sheet known as a signature. After folding so that the pages of a signature are in sequential order and properly oriented, the pages are bound by gluing or sewing.
Recent advances in printing technology permit the manufacture of photo-direct plates which can be directly exposed to a projected image, bypassing the previously required negative to plate contact print, and the step of stripping together the separate negatives, which is a time-consuming and costly part of the process.